evaporated under pressure at a high temperature in apparatus constructed
for the purpose. Cane sugar or glucose is sometimes added. A new patent
process condenses the milk at low temperature, preserving it for a short
period, as compared with the condensed milk in tins, but it keeps well for
several days, and bears transportation. Condensed milk may be used in
cooking, when clean fresh milk is not available. The unsweetened kinds are
most useful, but, like pasteurized milk, must be treated with care after
the cans are opened.
=Cheese.=——Cheese is made from the curd of milk, and contains the most
nutritive parts of the milk in highly concentrated form. In the process of
manufacture, the milk is first curdled by rennet, and the whey strained
out. The curds after preliminary treatment, varying according to the style
of cheese to be made, are finally pressed together very slowly in a cheese
press, which is screwed down more tightly as the cheese becomes dryer. The
cheeses are then covered with cheesecloth and “ripened” slowly, the
ripening process giving characteristic consistency and flavor. This
ripening is due to the action of bacteria and molds. (See page 97.)
Foreign varieties of cheese, made originally in some one locality, have
marked colors, quality, and flavors, as Brie, Camembert, Roquefort, and
the Swiss cheeses. Parmesan is an Italian cheese, excellent with macaroni
and spaghetti.
_American cheeses_ vary in color, in strength of flavor, in creaminess,
and in degree of hardness. Much the greater part is, however, of the
general type known as “American cheddar” or “standard factory” cheese.
_Club cheese_ is an American cheese of good quality, put up in small jars.
It is a soft cheese, excellent to serve with crackers, but is too
expensive for common use.
_Cottage cheese_ is a home product made from sour milk, and used at once.
=Composition and nutritive value.=——Cheese is high in protein, and usually
in fat. (See Fig. 40.) Note the small amount of water, which makes cheese
a very concentrated food. The protein content makes it a meat substitute,
for those with whom cheese does not disagree. Being a dense as well as
concentrated form of food, it should be eaten in small quantities, and in
combination with other food materials in such a way that it will become
finely divided, or it will not be easily digested. The ash content is
high, the most valuable of the ash constituents of the milk being retained
in the cheese.
=The cost of cheese.=——The foreign cheeses are expensive, but American
cheeses may be classed among the moderate priced foods and they compare
favorably with other protein foods.
Cheese costs more than beans, and less than most cuts of meat. A good
American cheese costs about twenty-five cents per pound. Taking account of
composition as well as cost per pound, we find that a given amount of
money buys about twice as much food value when spent for cheese as it
would if spent for beef. See Fig. 45.
[Illustration: FIG. 45.——100-Calorie portions of cheese.
No. KIND WEIGHT OF PORTION, OUNCES
1. Swiss 0.8
2. Cream 0.9
3. American 0.8
4. Roquefort 1.0
5. Parmesan 1.9
6. Cottage 3.2
_A. Fowler, Photographer._]
=Care of cheese in the pantry.=——Cheese should be kept dry and covered,
that its odor may not be noticeable. Soft cheese should be kept in the ice
box. The receptacle for cheese should be thoroughly sterilized before each
new purchase is put away.
GENERAL METHODS AND RECIPES
=1. Uncooked cheese.=——Serve a cream cheese with a salad of lettuce,
and the imported cheeses with crackers and fruit for dessert.
American cheese may be thinly sliced and used in sandwiches. A small
piece of cheese with apple pie or pudding is an old-fashioned
combination that is always agreeable, but sometimes difficult of
digestion.
=2. Cottage cheese.=
Use sour milk that has set. Other ingredients: salt to taste,
cayenne pepper or paprika, if liked. Quality and flavor are
improved by the addition of a tablespoonful of butter or two
tablespoonfuls of cream to a pint of the curd, but these are not
necessary.
Warm the milk slowly, until the whey begins to separate from the
curd. If this process is continued too long, and the milk becomes
hot, the curd will be tough. Place a piece of cheesecloth over a
bowl, pour in the curds and whey, and lift the cloth carefully,
allowing the whey to run through. Squeeze out the remaining whey.
Add the seasoning and other ingredients to the curd, shape in
balls, and chill before serving. It is delicious served with
lettuce and dressing as a salad, or with gingerbread for dessert
at luncheon or supper.
=Principles of cooking cheese.=——The fat in the cheese is melted by
heat. The protein is toughened by a high temperature, therefore a low
temperature process should be used.
=3. Cheese cooked with other food materials.=——A creamy cheese should
be selected for cooking. Cheese may be grated and sprinkled on the
top of potato on the half shell, or any other mashed potato; or it
may be sliced and placed with each layer in escalloped potato. Its
use is common with macaroni; and a dish of macaroni with milk and
cheese is a good meat substitute, and may be used as the main dish of
a luncheon or simple dinner. Those to whom cheese is agreeable will
find many places for its use. Its flavor harmonizes with celery and
with tomato. The Italians serve grated Parmesan cheese with soup, and
with spaghetti that has a tomato sauce.
=4. Cheese crackers.=——Select crackers of a firm quality that will not
crumble or flake easily, and of a small size. Spread very thinly with soft
butter, put the crackers in a pan, and sprinkle grated cheese upon each
one. Set the pan in a moderate oven until the cheese is melted. A
sprinkling of paprika may be used. Serve with lettuce, celery, or other
green salad.
EXERCISES
1. Compare the composition of eggs, milk, and cheese.
2. How may an egg which has been kept too long in cold storage be
detected?
3. What is the effect of the boiling temperature of water upon an egg?
4. Compare a hard- and a soft-cooked egg for digestibility.
5. What are the dangers from unclean milk?
6. How may the milk supply be safeguarded?
7. Why is cheese a meat substitute?
8. What caution should we exercise in using it?
9. What precaution must we take in cooking cheese?
CHAPTER X
THE FATS AND THE SUGARS
Fats are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, but have much more
carbon than the other kinds of foodstuffs. Notice in Fig. 46 that olive
oil and lard are pure fats; the other fat foods containing water, protein,
and ash. Fat is available in various forms, with differing flavors and a
wide range of prices. To many people it is unpalatable in some of its
cheapest forms; yet its use is important, and some kind should be included
in the diet. Fluid and emulsified fats are the most easily digested, hence
olive oil, cream, and egg yolk are highly desirable. Bacon and butter
belong nearly in the same class. A vigorous man at hard labor can digest
fat of any kind without difficulty, and needs it because it gives so much
fuel in proportion to its bulk.
Fat tends to retard gastric digestion, and delicate persons must be
careful about taking with it other foods which are hard to digest, or
taking it in the form of fried foods, pastries, rich cakes, and sauces.
Persons with delicate appetite, who lose weight because they do not get
enough fuel, may be benefited by taking a little more fat in the diet,
especially if they do not digest starch and sugar readily, but a very
large amount (over 6 or 7 ounces a day) will not be perfectly digested.
=Fat as a food.=——_Beef fat_, as it occurs with lean, is a digestible fat.
If thoroughly browned in the cooking process, it is most palatable, and
the taste for it should be cultivated. In gravy, it may be used with
potato, instead of butter. Fat tried out from suet, may be used in place
of butter as an ingredient in some puddings, and even in batter mixtures.
It may also be used with vegetables when the price of butter is
prohibitive. See Fig. 47.
[Illustration: FIG. 46.——Composition of fat foods.]
[Illustration: FIG. 47.——100-Calorie portions of fat foods.
WEIGHT OF PORTION
No. KIND OUNCES
1. Cream (extra rich, 40% fat) 0.9
2. Olive oil 0.4
3. Butter 0.5
4. Oleomargarine 0.5
5. Suet 0.5
6. Bacon 0.6
_A. Fowler, Photographer._]
_Bacon_ is a digestible and agreeable form of fat, but it is not so cheap
as beef fat, though cheaper than butter.
_Fat pork_ is lower in price than bacon, and can be assimilated by
vigorous people, especially those living out of doors.
_Cream_ is one of the most delicious fatty food materials, and is
digestible, but ranks with butter and bacon as to cost. While it is not a
cheap food, it is not such an extravagance when moderately used as some
people suppose, who have not worked out the problem. Usually the most
economical source of cream is to take it from the top of the bottle of
milk. The remaining partially skimmed milk may be used at table or in
cooking or for making cottage cheese.
_Butter_ is a digestible fat, ranking at present among the more expensive
food materials.
Watchfulness is necessary with both cream and milk that cleanliness and
quality may be insured.
_Butter substitutes._——These are made from beef fat and other edible fats
and oils, and are much less expensive than butter. They may be used in
cooking with good result. The usual trade names are butterine, or
oleomargarine, or some word similar to these. Oleomargarine has the same
food value as butter at lower cost, but lacks fine flavor.
_Olive or sweet oil._——The fat content of olive oil is one hundred per
cent, its fuel value being equal to that of lard. See Fig. 46. It is made
in Italy, France, Spain, and California, the oils from the different
countries differing somewhat in flavor. The cheaper grades are sometimes
adulterated with corn oil or cottonseed oil, which have the same food
value but should, of course, be sold under their own names and not at
olive oil prices. An American firm is now manufacturing olive oil in
Spain; this and the California olive oil are of high grade. Italian oil by
the gallon is of good quality, and usually somewhat less expensive than
the French. It is a costly food material, but valuable in the dietary.
Never buy it in small bottles, as this adds greatly to the cost. The most
economical method is to purchase by the gallon in a tin can. If kept cool,
it will not deteriorate except very slowly. Always wipe off the mouth of
the bottle or can before pouring out the oil.
=Fat as a cooking medium.=——Fat is necessary for the sauté, and for deep
fat frying. For deep fat frying several preparations are made from
cottonseed oil that are agreeable to use and of moderate price.
_Lard_ has been the most commonly used, but many people object to the
flavor. _Beef drippings_ should be saved and kept cool in covered jelly
glasses. These drippings are useful for browning vegetables, meatballs,
and in pan-broiling if a small amount of additional fat is necessary.
When deep fat frying is used, great pains must be taken to see that the
fat is sufficiently hot in order that the food material may not soak fat,
and the cooked food must be kept hot when the fat is draining off on
absorptive paper. The best fats for this purpose are the vegetable oils.
The refined cottonseed oils now on the market are excellent. For details
of use see page 120. Keep a box of sand to pour into it, if the kettle of
fat takes fire. Never pour water into blazing fat.
GENERAL METHODS AND RECIPES
=Principles of cooking.=
Fat melts at a low temperature.
At about 350° F. it begins to smoke.
At a higher temperature, a chemical change takes place, and the
fat finally “burns,” as the hydrogen and oxygen pass off.
It is emulsified by mixing with a substance like egg.
=1. To whip cream.=——Chill the cream, and set it in a bowl of ice
water, or chipped ice. If the cream is warm, the beating will churn
the cream to butter.
(1) For a fine, close-whipped cream use a Dover egg beater.
(2) For a lighter whipped cream, use a wire beater.
=2. To mold butter.=——A pair of wooden butter pats is necessary for
this. Dip these first into hot water, then into cold. Cut off a
square piece of butter, enough for one person, make it flat or round
with two knives, and then roll it into shape between the butter pats.
Chill, and serve in a dish on ice; or give one to each person on a
butter plate, just at the last moment before serving the meal. Never
serve soft butter.
=3. To cook bacon.=——Bacon has alternate layers of fat and lean, but
it is the fat that has chief consideration in the cooking process.
The aim is to brown and crisp the fat without burning it and without
causing a volume of smoke in the kitchen. Make ready a frying pan,
and have at hand a jar for holding fat standing on a plate. Cut the
bacon in thin slices with a sharp knife. Heat the pan, and put in the
bacon. The fat will begin to “try out” at the melting point. Pour
this melted fat into the jar. Turn the pieces of bacon with a fork.
If the smoke is rising in volumes the pan is too hot. The novice
should not try this experiment for the first time by herself. The fat
may even burst into flame if the pan is too hot. When the bacon is
sufficiently cooked to become crisp on cooling, it is ready to serve,
by itself, with toast, or with eggs.
=The making of sauces and gravies.=——Many sauces and gravies are made from
a fat, mixed with a starchy substance, the two mingled with a liquid. The
fat gives flavor and nutriment, the starch is used for thickening, the
liquid also gives flavor. You are now familiar with the cooking of fat and
starch, and can readily understand that the combination of all these
ingredients is not an easy matter. The fat will float upon the top of the
liquid unless the right amount of starch or flour is used, and the flour
will have a tendency to lump. There are several good methods in use. The
method given for your experiment is one of the simplest, because it uses
only a few utensils, and gives uniformly good results. It requires no more
watchfulness than the other methods.
These sauces and gravies are not foods for little children and invalids.
=4. Foundation recipe for sauces.=
_Proportions._
(1) Thin sauce (for milk toast)
1 tablespoonful of fat, 1 of flour, 1/2 pint liquid.
_or_ (2) Medium sauce (for vegetables).
2 tablespoonfuls of fat, 2 of flour, 1/2 pint liquid.
_or_ (3) Thicker sauce, also for vegetables, meats, fish, and
macaroni.
3 tablespoonfuls of fat, 3 of flour, 1/2 pint liquid.
Salt is used to taste.
_Method._——Melt the fat in a saucepan. Pour in the flour, all at
once, and stir the flour and fat together, until the mass
thickens slightly. Pour in all the liquid at once, cold. Set the
saucepan where the heat is moderate.
Stir steadily with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens.
=5. A white sauce= is made with butter, and milk the liquid. Stop the
cooking just short of the boiling point.
=6. A tomato sauce= is made with butter or beef fat, strained tomato
juice the liquid. Cook a piece of onion, a sprig of parsley, or a
small portion of dried herbs, and a clove with the tomato before
straining, if these flavors are liked.
=7. A brown sauce= or _meat gravy_ may be made in the same way,
using beef fat, and (as the liquid) water that has been poured into
the pan in which the meat is cooked. When you are familiar with
cooking there is an easier way for thickened meat gravies, as
follows:
Pour off some of the fat from the meat pan. Set the pan upon the
stove and stir in the flour,——about two tablespoonfuls for the
ordinary roasting pan. When the flour is thoroughly mixed in, add
about a pint of water, cold or warm, and stir again. Pour this
mixture through a strainer. With practice you can make an
excellent gravy in this way. It requires judgment to proportion
the flour and liquid to the material in the pan.
THE SUGARS
Sugars are of common occurrence in the vegetable world in the fruits and
juices of many plants. Pure grape juice may contain as high as 25 per cent
of glucose though usually it is not so concentrated. Glucose is also found
in considerable amount in sweet corn and onions. It is not so sweet as
cane sugar (sucrose). Fructose is one of the sweetest of sugars, and helps
to give honey its great sweetness.
_Lactose_ or milk sugar is found chiefly in milk. It is the least sweet of
all the sugars. If there were as much cane sugar in milk, we should soon
grow tired of it because it would be too sweet. It is sometimes added to
milk to make its fuel value higher, especially in case the milk has been
diluted, as in the diet of babies and invalids.
_Maltose_ or malt sugar is formed from starch in germinating seeds.
_Sucrose_ or cane sugar is most commonly manufactured from sugar cane and
sugar beets. To a much smaller extent it is made commercially from the
sugar maple, sorghum cane, and sugar palm, and it is found in considerable
amount in some common fruits and vegetables.
Its manufacture forms a great industry, and its consumption is enormous,
some ten million tons coming into commerce annually, and this does not
represent the total consumption.
Figure 48 shows the composition of several common sugars. Notice that the
granulated sugar is a pure foodstuff, being 100 per cent carbohydrate,
while all the others contain traces of protein, ash, and water. Sugar is a
fuel food, exclusively, like olive oil and other pure fats.
[Illustration: FIG. 48.——Composition of sugars.]
Sugar is a valuable food material, but should not be used in excess; the
tendency in the United States is rather toward an excessive use of sugar.
It is liable to cause an acid fermentation in digestion, when taken in
large amounts, and is sure to irritate the stomach. It should be well
diluted by other foods. The amount that may be eaten daily varies for most
people from two ounces for young children to four ounces for adults, but
many people cannot eat these amounts without more or less irritation of
the stomach. It is a common practice to oversweeten cakes and desserts,
the sweetness of the sugar often disguising other agreeable flavors. The
liking for sweets should be well under control, for the eating of too much
sugar is a habit easy to form, and one which crowds out other valuable
foods.
_Cane Sugar_ is sold both brown and white, and is manufactured in
powdered, granulated, and solid form, the latter usually cut in cubes or
dominoes.
The canes are first crushed, the juices passing from the machine being of
a rather dark greenish color. This juice is first clarified and filtered,
and then boiled down in order to crystallize the sugar, the liquid sirup
forming molasses. In the older methods the sirup was boiled in open pans,
and the crystals filtered from the molasses by a slow process. In the
modern process the sirup is boiled at a low temperature in vacuum pans,
and the sugar is separated from the molasses by a centrifugal machine,
built on the same principle as a cream separator. The principles of beet
sugar manufacture are essentially the same, with some differences in
detail.
The _molasses_ manufactured in the older method is richer in cane sugar
and is a better table molasses than the new process molasses, the latter
being used chiefly for the manufacture of alcohol. Molasses is either dark
or light, the darker having a stronger flavor especially suited to
gingerbread and Indian meal pudding. Molasses comes in the bulk, and may
be slightly acid; or in cans, in which case no acid fermentation should
have taken place. Where canned molasses is used in a batter, it is
sometimes necessary to use baking powder instead of soda. “New Orleans” is
a light-colored molasses, “Porto Rico” dark.
Brown sugar has not passed through the refining processes necessary to the
whitening of the sugar. It is softer than the granulated white, has a
decided brownish color and a rich flavor.
In _buying sugar_ it is economy to purchase granulated in large
quantities, a fraction of a cent per pound being saved in this way. The
cut sugar comes in convenient boxes, which keep the product clean.
Powdered sugar may be bought in small quantities, three or five pounds,
since it is not used so much in cooking as the granulated.
=Candy, homemade and purchased.=——Candy, if not eaten between meals, is an
allowable form of sugar. The best time for eating it is at the end of a
meal, one or two pieces. Even in this case, however, it would be better
for the body if the craving for sweet were satisfied by fruit rather than
candy.
Candy made at home costs less than high grade commercial candy, even
counting in the labor. It is superior to cheap grade candy, which may even
contain poisonous coloring matter. It is a pleasure to make it at times,
and it is always a pleasing gift at the holiday season.
GENERAL METHODS AND RECIPES
=Principles of cooking.=
A sirup is formed by cooking sugar with water.
The sirup thickens if process is prolonged and water evaporates.
Cane sugar is changed to glucose and fructose by boiling with an
acid.
Heated without additional water, the sugar is partially
decomposed, giving off water and becoming brown in color. This is
“caramel,” used for coloring, and flavoring.
The final stage of heating leaves pure carbon.
=8. Peanut brittle.=
_Ingredients._
Sugar 2 cups
Salt 1/4 teaspoonful
Peanuts 1 quart
_Method._——Shell the peanuts and chop them in small pieces. Put
the sugar in a saucepan and place over a moderate fire. Stir from
the bottom until the sugar is entirely melted and of a rich brown
color. The sugar will lump badly at first, but these lumps will
entirely melt in time. Turn the chopped peanuts and salt into the
sirup and stir together and immediately turn out on a buttered
pan. When cold, break into pieces.
=9. Fudge.=
_Ingredients._
Sugar 2 cups
Cream of tartar 1/8 teaspoonful
Chocolate 2 squares
Milk or water 1 cup
Vanilla 1 teaspoonful
_Method._——Mix the first four ingredients and place over a hot
fire. Stir steadily until the mixture begins to boil. Stir
occasionally after this until, when half a teaspoonful is dropped
into cold water, it may be rolled to a soft ball with the
fingers. Set the saucepan in a cool place and leave until it
becomes just lukewarm. Add the vanilla and stir the mixture until
it becomes thick and seems very slightly granular. Pour it into a
buttered tin and as soon as possible cut into squares. The exact
point at which to remove the fudge from the fire and again at
which to cease stirring and pour into the pan is a matter which
only practice can teach.
=10. Penocha.=
_Ingredients._
Brown sugar 2 cups
Butter 2 tablespoonfuls
Milk, cream, or water 1 cup
Cream of tartar 1/8 teaspoon or less
Vanilla 1 teaspoon
_Method._——As with recipe 9. The very dark brown sugar contains
some acid and therefore less cream of tartar may be used. Chopped
nuts may be added with the vanilla to both fudge and penocha.
=11. Fondant for French creams.=
_Ingredients._
Sugar 2 cups
Cream of tartar 1/8 teaspoonful
Boiling water 2/3 cup
_Method._——Mix the sugar and cream of tartar. Add the boiling
water and place over a moderate fire, stirring slowly and
steadily until the sugar is dissolved. Do not stir after the
mixture begins to boil, but let it boil slowly until the sirup
will form a soft ball in cold water. Turn out on a platter
without scraping the saucepan. The success of the fondant depends
upon the complete changing of the cane sugar into fructose and
glucose, the crystals of the latter being much finer than those
of cane sugar. Stirring the mixture while it boils or before it
has cooled sufficiently will result in the formation of cane
sugar crystals, and the fondant will be harsh and rough.
When the fondant is barely lukewarm begin to stir it with long
steady strokes and continue this until the mixture becomes creamy
and thick and begins to break away from the sides of the dish and
the spoon. Then gather it all together into a round mass and knead
like bread until it becomes pliable. It may then be wrapped in
oiled paper or put into a covered bowl or fruit jar and kept until
wanted.
Fondant is the foundation for all bonbons and may be made up into
a great variety of shapes and with many flavors. It may be mixed
with chopped candied fruits or nuts or coated with chocolate.
_Laboratory management._——The holiday time is the natural season for the
candy-making lesson. It is not worth while to spend much time on this
topic, at the sacrifice of others.
EXERCISES
1. What is meant by a fuel food?
2. Why should fat be taken daily?
3. Compare the cost of different kinds of fat.
4. Why is beef fat less expensive than butter?
5. How is fat mixed with other ingredients in a sauce?
6. What is the chief point to consider in the cookery of fat?
7. What is the difference between cane sugar and honey?
8. Compare the cost of a pound of homemade candy with that of good quality
bought at a shop.
9. How is fat changed in digestion?
10. How is sugar changed in digestion?
CHAPTER XI
MUFFINS, BISCUIT, CAKE, AND PASTRY
Wheat flour is the important material in this group, but muffins and
biscuit may be varied by the use of corn meal, rye, and Graham flour, and
cooked cereals may also be utilized. The ingredients are flour, salt, a
liquid, sometimes a fat, eggs, and sugar. The flavorings are spices,
essences, fruit juice, dried fruits, nuts, chocolate. The mixture must be
smooth, but it is also necessary to make it porous or “light.” This is
accomplished by means of leavening agents, “to leaven” meaning “to make
light.”
=Leavening agents.=——The batter, or dough, is leavened by introducing into
it air or a gas that expands when heated in the oven, thus making the
whole more porous and larger in bulk.
_Air._——This is introduced into the batter by beating, or by beating air
into the white of egg and stirring the beaten white into the batter.
_Steam._——The water in the batter turns to steam in the oven, and as it
expands it assists in the leavening of the mass. See Popovers.
_Carbon dioxide gas._——This is introduced in three ways.
(1) By using an acid with a carbonate.
(2) By yeast fermentation.
(3) By machinery.
Yeast fermentation is studied in the chapter on bread making (Chapter
XII), and the mechanical method is a commercial process exclusively. Only
the first method will be treated in this chapter.
When an acid and any alkaline carbonate are dissolved together, a
chemical action takes place, a gas is given off (carbon dioxide) and
another substance is formed that is neutral, being neither acid nor
alkaline, and known as a “salt.” In selecting the two substances we must
bear in mind this neutral substance that remains in the batter and insure
its harmlessness.
The _lactic acid_ of sour milk is probably the earliest used, being a
domestic product. The lactic acid is neutralized by bicarbonate of sodium,
the latter being also called “baking soda.” The resulting salt is
harmless.
_Acid molasses_ with soda is another old-fashioned method. Here the acid
is developed by the fermentation of the molasses.
_Cream of tartar_ (acid potassium tartrate), obtained from crystals
deposited in wine vats, came into use later, neutralized by bicarbonate of
soda, two parts of cream of tartar to one of soda.
_Baking powder._——The first baking powders were made of cream of tartar
and bicarbonate of soda, mixed with a starch, to prevent the slight
chemical action which would cause the powder to lose strength; and these
two substances are now used in the best baking powders. The resulting salt
is the Rochelle salt of medicine.
An _acid phosphate_ is sometimes used with soda, and this gives a harmless
neutral substance.
Cheaper acids have sometimes been used, especially _alum_. It is best not
to use an alum powder. Select a standard kind, avoiding those that offer
prizes for a certain number of boxes purchased. Even if these latter do
not contain alum, there is probably an excess of starch or flour.
The advantage of baking powder is in the accuracy of the proportions of
the two substances by weight. Even though the measuring of the cream of
tartar and soda separately is accurate, the proportions may not be
correct. There is no great advantage in homemade baking powder. It costs
almost as much as the manufactured, and is not as perfect a product.
=The proportions of the main ingredients.=——Attempts are made to define
the degrees of stiffness of batters and doughs, but these distinctions are
not very accurate. A “pour batter” is liquid enough to pour, and a “dough
batter” soft enough to drop from a spoon; a “soft dough” is next in grade,
and “dough” is the stiffest of all.
To understand proportioning the ingredients, the nature of the ingredients
when heated must be taken into account. Butter and other fats melt when
heated, and behave like a liquid in the mixture. Therefore, when there is
a very large amount of butter, no other wetting is necessary, as in pound
cake. We may make a scale, with a thin popover mixture at one extreme,
with no butter in it, and the stiff pound cake at the other, with butter
the only liquid (except the flavoring). Between these two are the mixtures
of medium stiffness, with both butter and liquid. This general rule may be
given: As the quantity of butter is increased, the batter must increase in
stiffness, and there must be either less liquid or more flour.
A beaten egg looks like a liquid and behaves so during the mixing, but in
the oven it stiffens. For this reason we can make a sponge cake with many
eggs and no liquid in the mixing, and use no other leavening agent than
the air beaten into the egg.
One old-fashioned rule for sponge cake reads: Take the weight of the eggs
in sugar and half their weight in flour, with the juice and rind of a
lemon for ten eggs. Such a rule was adapted to the days when eggs were
cheap. We should now use fewer eggs in sponge cake, and this means that
water and baking powder must replace the eggs omitted.
=Methods of mixing.=——(1) _For popovers, griddlecakes, muffins, and plain
cake._
Sift together the dry ingredients.
Beat the eggs, without separating the yolk and white, and stir the eggs
and milk together.
Pour the liquid gradually into the flour, first stirring, then beating.
Melt the butter or other shortening, and beat it into the batter.
(2) _Biscuits and shortcakes._
Sift together the dry ingredients.
Cut in or chop in the butter.
Add the wetting slowly.
(3) _A richer, fine-grained butter cake._
Sift together the dry ingredients.
Cream the butter, and beat in the sugar.
Beat the whites and yolks of the eggs separately.
Beat the yolks into the creamed butter and sugar.
Add the flour and milk alternately; that is, a quarter or third of the
flour, then a portion of the milk, and so on. First stir, then beat
vigorously.
Fold in the beaten whites lightly and do not beat the mixture again.
(4) _Sponge cake._
If baking powder is used, sift with the flour.
Beat the whites and yolks of the eggs separately.
Beat the sugar into the yolks, and add the liquid and flavoring.
Add the flour and beaten whites in alternate portions, dividing both into
quarters or thirds.
=Baking.=——This is a science and an art that requires much practice. Do
not be discouraged if you do not succeed at first.
Concerning the utensils for baking, see Chapter II. The cups or pans are
prepared by warming and greasing. Use a bit of soft paper or a brush for
greasing the pan and ordinarily an inexpensive fat, reserving butter for
delicate cake. Flour sprinkled on a pan is sufficient for biscuit and
cookies. Line a pan for loaf cake with white paper, and grease the paper.
See that the oven is ready before the mixing begins. We shall not be able
to bake accurately until our ovens are equipped with thermometers. In the
meantime we must use some simple oven test. The indicators on the doors of
some ovens are a guide, although they are not really accurate according to
the scale of the thermometer. A glass door is also a convenience.
A loaf should be baked at a lower temperature than a biscuit or muffin.
Why?
_For loaves_, 380° F. Test by the hand, counting fifteen slowly, fifteen
seconds. A piece of white paper will become a delicate brown in five
minutes.
_For biscuits, muffins_, and _small cakes_, 425° to 450° F.——Test by the
hand, a count of ten. A piece of paper becomes a deeper golden brown in
five minutes.
Any mixture containing baking powder may stand some little time before it
is put in the oven, provided it is kept cold. The action of the baking
powder is not immediate, and is very slight at a low temperature.
The stages of the baking are first, the rising; second, the crusting over;
third, the baking of the interior; and last, a shrinkage of the whole.
Many ovens bake unevenly, and pans must be shifted. This should be done
with care and not before the third stage of the baking. It is often well
to cool off the oven the latter part of the time. An oven that is too hot
may be cooled by a pan of water. Paper may be laid over the top of the
cake if the browning has been too rapid. These are all makeshifts, and
indicate a poor oven, or poor management of the fire. Do not look into the
oven for the first ten minutes of baking, and always close the oven door
gently.
When we are privileged to have electric ovens, with glass doors, and an
accurate thermometer, baking will be an easy and accurate process.
EXPERIMENTS AND RECIPES
_A. Experiments with baking powder._
1. Dissolve half a teaspoonful of baking powder in two tablespoonfuls of
water and heat in a test tube, or saucepan, over a flame; notice the
effervescence when the bubbling is at its height, and hold a lighted
match in the mouth of the tube. This is a simple test for carbon dioxide.
2. Dissolve 2 teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar in 1/2 cup water in a glass.
Dissolve 1 teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in 1/2 cup water in a glass.
Taste both of these.
Test both with litmus paper, noting the change of color. There are several
vegetable coloring matters that change color in this way, in the presence
of an acid or an alkaline substance.
Turn the two solutions together, and test with both blue and pink litmus
paper, after the solution has stood for several minutes. What results?
Taste this mixed solution to see if you can detect any difference.
To prove that there is a substance still left, evaporate the water.
3. A pretty form of this experiment is to use, instead of litmus, the
water in which red cabbage has previously been boiled and which therefore
contains some of the coloring matter of the cabbage. The changes in color
are very striking, and prove conclusively that neither the cream of tartar
nor the soda remains such.
_B. Oven experiments._
If one oven in the school kitchen can be equipped with a chemical
thermometer inserted in the oven, the following experiments are helpful.
1. Let each pupil test the oven by feeling, when it has reached 380° F.,
400° F., 425° F., 450° F., 475° F.-500° F.
2. Place pieces of white paper, one for each pupil, in the oven for five
minutes at the various temperatures. These may be pasted in the notebook
for future reference.
=1. Popovers, puffovers, or mahogany cakes.=
_Ingredients for 12._
Flour 1 pint
Milk 1 pint
Eggs 3
Salt 1/2 teaspoonful
Some rules give two eggs only.
_For baking_, heavy earthen cups, hot and greased.
_Method of mixing_ is No. 1.
_Special points._——The liquid must be poured _very_ slowly into
the flour to prevent lumping. A large Dover egg beater is
convenient for beating out lumps, if any occur.
The leavening of the popover is effected by steam, and it is not
necessary therefore to spend time and strength in the long beating
sometimes recommended. This has been conclusively proved by
experiment. Neither is it necessary to put the batter into the
oven immediately, as sometimes directed. It may stand all day or
even over night.
Pour the batter in the hot cups, having each cup two thirds full.
The baking of the popovers is unique, in that they should be put
into an intensely hot oven for the first stage of the baking—— as
hot as 475° F., or even more——then the oven must be cooled. This
first stage crusts the top; then the expansive force of the steam
pushes up the top; and the muffin “pops” or “puffs” over. The more
moderate heat cooks the sides and the bottom, and makes an
agreeable crust. The perfect puffover is hollow. Three quarters of
an hour is the average time of baking. If at the end of that time
the oven door is set ajar, and the popovers allowed to remain
longer, they are improved, coming from the oven stiff and crisp
with a rich brown color, rather than soft and underdone. In an old
family cookbook, one recipe, sixty years old, calls popovers
“Mahogany Cakes.”
They may be eaten as a muffin, or served with a pudding sauce as a
dessert.
=2. Plain muffins.=
_Ingredients for 12._
Flour 1 pint
Baking powder 3 teaspoonfuls
Salt 1/2 teaspoonful
Eggs 2 or 1
Milk 1-1/4 cup
Butter, _or_ butter substitute 1 tablespoonful
Sugar, if desired 1 tablespoonful
_For baking_, greased muffin pan. Bake about half an hour.
_Method of mixing_ is No. 1.
This recipe may be varied in many ways.
(_a_) Use 1/2 cup cooked cereal in place of an equal quantity
of flour. Will you change the amount of wetting?
(_b_) One cup fine white corn meal, or 1/2 cup yellow meal in
place of equal quantities of flour. Corn meal absorbs more
water than white flour.
What change in the wetting?
The oven should be the temperature for bread, and the baking
at least 3/4 of an hour.
(_c_) One cup Graham or rye meal in place of an equal quantity
of flour.
=3. Baking-powder biscuit.=
_Ingredients._
Flour 1 pint
Baking powder 3 teaspoonfuls
Salt 1/2 teaspoonful
Butter, _or_ butter substitute 1 or 2 tablespoonfuls
Milk 1 scant cup
_For shaping_, molding board, rolling pin, and biscuit cutter.
_For baking_, an iron sheet or pan sprinkled with flour. Oven
about 425° F., a ten-second test, or golden brown paper. Bake
twenty minutes to half an hour.
_Method of mixing_ is No. 2.
_To shape._ Dust the board with flour, turn out the dough, dredge
with flour, pat into a firm mass, and then pat or lightly roll out
to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out with a cutter dipped in flour. (A
small glass or the top of a round tin can may be used.)
_Variations._——Add 1 egg. This makes a delicious biscuit. Sprinkle
the top with granulated sugar, and spice. Dried currants washed,
and dredged with flour, may be laid on the top.
Increase the butter to two or three tablespoonfuls, and decrease
the wetting and the mixture becomes _shortcake_. This is the
mixture to use for the true strawberry shortcake. Many other
fruits may be used, both uncooked and cooked.
=4. Sour milk griddlecakes.=
_Ingredients._
Flour 2-1/2 cups
Salt 1/2 teaspoonful
Melted butter 2 tablespoonfuls
Sour milk 2 cups
Soda 1-1/4 teaspoonfuls
Egg 1
_Method._——Mix dry ingredients. Add sour milk, egg well beaten,
and melted butter in order given. Beat thoroughly. Drop by
spoonfuls on a greased griddle and let cook until the edges are
cooked and the cake full of bubbles. Turn with a cake turner or
spatula knife and cook on the other side. Serve with butter and
sirup or scraped maple sugar.
=5. Sweet milk griddlecakes.=
_Ingredients._
Flour 3 cups
Baking powder 4 teaspoonfuls
Salt 1 teaspoonful
Sugar 1/4 cup
Milk 2 cups
Egg 1
Melted butter 2 tablespoonfuls
_Method._——Mix dry ingredients. Beat egg and mix with it the
milk. Pour liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir
altogether until smooth. Add the melted butter and cook the cakes
the same as with sour milk griddlecakes.
=6. Cookies.=——Cookies may be plain, or rich in butter; crisp and
thin, or soft and thick. They may be sweetened with sugar, or
molasses, and spiced in various ways. It would be an interesting
exercise to tabulate all the possible forms of cookies.
_Ingredients._
Butter 1 cup
Sugar 1-1/2 cups
Eggs 2
Milk 3 tablespoonfuls
Flour about 3 cups
Baking powder 1 teaspoonful
Salt 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls
The flavoring may be two teaspoonfuls of vanilla, or lemon
essence, one or two tablespoonfuls of ground spice, or caraway
seeds.
_For baking_, a floured iron sheet or flat pan. Temperature 425°
F., or even more. The baking requires from 15 to 20 minutes,
depending on the thickness of the cooky.
[Illustration: FIG. 49.——Materials and utensils for fancy cookies.
_Courtesy of Miss Anna M. Barrows._]
The method of mixing is No. 3. Notice that this is a stiff dough.
The amount of flour depends somewhat upon the expertness of the
cooky maker. The flour used in rolling out must be accounted for,
as the expert can manage a softer dough than the novice. Mix the
baking powder and salt with one cup of the flour.
_Shaping the cookies._——Figure 49 shows you the apparatus. The
dough is turned out upon the floured board, gently rolled out to a
quarter of an inch, cut and placed in a floured pan; or cut off a
small piece, roll in the flour, until it forms a ball, set the
ball in the pan, and pat it down to a round. This may seem to take
longer, but it is easier, and there is no board to clean
afterward.
_A plainer cooky_ is made with 1/2 cup butter, and 1/2 cup water
or milk, with somewhat more flour.
=7. Butter cake.=——A foundation recipe. Learn to make one cake well,
and vary it by changing the forms and flavors.
_Ingredients._
Butter 1/3 cup
Sugar 1 cup
Eggs 2
Milk 2/3 cup
Flour 1-3/4 cup
Baking powder 2-1/2 teaspoonfuls
Salt 1/4 teaspoonful
The flavoring may be 1 teaspoonful of vanilla or lemon essence,
or 1/2 teaspoonful of almond, or two teaspoonfuls of spices.
Raisins, 1/2 cup, citron 1/4 lb., nuts, 1/2 cup. The rind of 1/2
orange is delicious with the vanilla flavor. With the vanilla use
4 tablespoonfuls of cocoa, for a chocolate flavor.
To make a plainer cake, omit one egg, use 1/4 cup butter, and 3/4
cup of milk.
If you use 1/2 cup butter, making a richer cake, what other
changes should be made?
Bake in deep or shallow pan, jelly cake tins, or small tin cups.
The mixing is Method 3.
As layer cake, it may be used with a variety of fillings and
icings,——jelly, cream filling, soft icing with nuts, raisins, or
dates.
_A chocolate filling._——One half cup milk, 2 ounces unsweetened
chocolate, 1 cup of sugar, yolk of one egg, 1 teaspoonful vanilla
extract. Break up the chocolate, melt it in a bowl over hot water
or in a double boiler, with the sugar and the milk. When the
mixture is smooth add the beaten yolk, cook for one or two
minutes, add the vanilla, and remove from the fire.
[Illustration: FIG. 50.——A loaf of sponge cake. _Courtesy of Dept. of
Foods and Cookery, Teachers College._]
=8. Sponge cake.=——The old-time sponge cake is given on page 173.
Sponge cakes should be baked in a very moderate oven, below 380° F.,
the bread temperature. (See Fig. 50.)
=9. Hot water sponge cake.=
_Ingredients._
Eggs 2
Sugar 1 cup
Hot water _or_ Milk 3/8 cup
Flour 1 cup
Baking powder 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls
Salt 1/4 teaspoonful
Lemon _or_ 1/4 teaspoonful
Vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoonful
_Method._——Separate eggs and beat yolks and whites thoroughly.
Mix and sift the dry ingredients. Add the sugar gradually to
beaten yolks alternately with water until well blended. Next add
the flavoring and then fold in the stiffly beaten whites together
with the dry ingredients until blended. Bake in a buttered
shallow pan in a moderate oven for twenty-five minutes or until
cake shrinks from the side of the pan.
=10. Plain gingerbread.=
_Ingredients._
Molasses 1 cup
Boiling water 1/2 cup
Flour 2-1/2 cups
Soda 1 teaspoonful
Ginger 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls
Salt 1/2 teaspoonful
Butter 4 tablespoonfuls
_Method._——Melt butter in boiling water. Mix dry ingredients. Add
the molasses to the water and butter and stir this mixture into
the dry ingredients, beating vigorously. Pour into a buttered
shallow pan and bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven. If the
molasses is taken from a freshly opened can, no acid will be
present and the soda should be omitted and 3 teaspoonfuls of
baking powder used instead.
_Laboratory management._——Effective work in batters cannot be accomplished
with less than 1/2 cup liquid, though a smaller portion is sometimes used.
It is well to have some group work, so that the pupils may learn to beat
larger quantities. If there is a school lunch room, large quantities may
be utilized there.
=Pastry.=——Pastry is a stiff dough with a large proportion of shortening,
and is flaky when baked rather than porous. Pastry and pies should not be
used as a staple food, but when well made and properly masticated, pies
may be eaten occasionally by people in good health. The crust should be
flaky, and thoroughly baked.
=11. Foundation recipes for pastry.=
1. Proportions.
(1) _Plain crust._
This crust is more digestible and more economical than the “short”
or rich crust and may be used for English deep apple pie, or meat
or chicken pies.
Flour 2 cups
Baking powder 2 teaspoonfuls
Salt 1/2 teaspoonful
Fat (butter or lard, or
half of each) 1/2 cup (measured solid)
Ice water 1/4 cup
(2) _Short crust._
Flour 2 cups
Salt 1/2 teaspoonful
Fat (equal parts butter
and lard) 2/3 cup
Ice water 1/2 cup
(3) _Rich flaky crust._
Same as (2) (more fat is to be added later)
2. Method of mixing for all.
Have all the ingredients and utensils icy cold. Mix the dry
ingredients and cut in the fat with two knives. Stir in the ice
water until the dough will just hold together. Toss upon a floured
board and roll to 1/4 inch or less in thickness. Roll this up. If
not ready to be used, this pie crust may be covered with moist
cheesecloth and put on the ice until wanted. This amount of crust
will make two medium-sized pies with two crusts each.
3. Method of shaping.
_For plain crust._——Cut off 1/2 of the roll of crust. Roll out to
about 1/8 inch thickness. Have a deep dish ready containing either
the apple or meat fillings (see recipes below) and with the edge
of dish buttered. Invert a small cup in the center of the dish to
hold up the crust if apples are used. Lay the rolled-out crust
over the top, having rolled it a little larger than the dish. Turn
under the edges of the crust and crimp them down on the dish. Make
several small cuts in the top of the crust to let the steam
escape. Bake in a moderate oven until the filling (if apples) is
cooked and the crust brown.
_For short crust._——Cut off 1/4 of the roll of crust and roll very
thin, keeping the shape round. Line a buttered pie plate with the
crust. Fill this with the desired filling, moisten the edge of
bottom crust with water, and cover with another round of crust
rolled as before. Crimp down the edges of the top crust and make
cuts in the top as before. Bake until the filling is cooked and
the crust is brown.
_For rich crust._——Roll the crust to 1/2 inch thickness. Have
ready 1/3 cup ice-cold fat. Cut off small bits of this and spread
it in dabs over the rolled-out crust. Roll this again and then
proceed as for the “short” crust (2).
=12. Apple pie filling.=
Use juicy, tart apples. Pare, cut in quarters, core, and slice
apples into pie dish, filling it heaping full. Add 1/4 cup water
and 1/2 cup sugar. Any flavor desired may be used, lemon rind, or
spices. A little butter gives an agreeable flavor.
=13. Lemon pie filling.=
_Ingredients._
1 heaping tablespoonful cornstarch {1 egg whole, or
mixed with {yolks of 2 eggs
A little cold water Juice and rind of 1 lemon
Large cup hot water A very little salt
Piece butter the size of walnut Whites of 2 eggs
1 cup sugar Powdered sugar, 1 tablespoonful
_Method._
Mix the starch with the cold water, add the boiling water and cook
until it thickens, and add the butter and sugar. Beat the egg (or
yolks) and add the other ingredients. Add the lemon last. When the
pie is done, if two yolks were used, beat the whites with a
tablespoonful of powdered sugar, place on the top, and brown in a
moderate oven.
=14. Meat or chicken pie.=
Use left-over, cooked meat. Cut the meat into dice or small bits
and fill the dish. Sprinkle with salt and moisten with gravy, if
possible. If not, add 1 cup hot water and dredge lightly with
flour. Have top crust only.
How would the time for cooking this pie compare with that for deep
apple pie?
EXERCISES
1. What are the chief ingredients of batter mixtures and doughs?
2. Explain leavening by air.
3. Why is steam a leavening agent?
4. How is gas formed for leavening purposes?
5. How does the presence of butter or other fat affect the stiffness of a
mixture?
6. What are the important points to remember in mixing ingredients?
7. Why are baking-powder biscuits mixed differently from popovers?
8. What are the most practical oven tests?
9. Why is a loaf cake baked longer than cookies?
10. How many muffins, average size, can be made from a pint of flour?
11. Compare the cost of homemade cake with bakers’ cake.
12. What are the advantages of the homemade over the bakers’, or the
bakers’ over the homemade?
CHAPTER XII
YEAST BREAD
Yeast bread when well made is a food of which the palate never tires, and
it is usually recognized as a part of every well-planned meal. The quick
breads are a convenient substitute at times, but they are not the staff of
life in the same sense, and are, on the whole, less widely used.
The making of a perfect loaf of bread is the goal of all those who aspire
to excel in cookery; and the art of bread making requires not only a clear
understanding of the underlying principles, but patience and persistence
in experimentation and practice until a uniformly perfect product is
achieved. The fact that in yeast we have a living organism with which to
deal makes the whole process a delicate one, in which every detail is of
importance, whether it be a matter of ingredients, proportions, methods of
mixing, or temperature.
=The standard of good bread.=——There will always be some difference of
opinion in regard to a desirable quality in bread, and individual
preference will control the final result, whether the crumb of the bread
shall be dry and porous or somewhat more moist and finer in grain. French
bread is of the former type, the English preferring a close grain and
solid loaf. Allowing for these differences, it is still possible to
standardize bread, and to state in percentages the different points to be
considered in judging a loaf.
We must consider the _size_ and _symmetry_ of the loaf, in order that the
interior of the bread may be baked to the very center, without overbaking
or burning the crust, and therefore very large loaves should be avoided.
The _crust_ should be uniform in color, the shade ranging from a light
golden to a darker brown, and the quality may be soft or crisp, but never
tough. The _crumb_ should be light, the cavities evenly distributed
throughout the loaf and of uniform size. It should also be elastic,
tender, and yet not pasty, evenly baked without streaks and heavy portions
near the crust, and the color should be creamy rather than a snowy white.
(Fig. 55.)
The following score cards will be useful in judging loaves, and in the
bread contests which are interesting and helpful.
BREAD SCORE CARD 1
I. General Appearance 15%
1. Shape 2.5%
2. Size 2.5%
3. Crust 10.0%
(_a_) Color
(_b_) Smoothness
II. Internal Appearance 55%
1. Depth of crust 10%
2. Texture (lightness) 15%
3. Crumb 30%
(_a_) Moisture}
Elasticity} (25%)
(_b_) Color (5%)
III. Flavor 30%
————
100%
BREAD SCORE CARD 2
I. External Appearance 20%
1. Shape 5%
2. Size 5%
3. Crust 10%
(_a_) Color
(_b_) Smoothness
II. Internal Factors 50%
1. Depth of crust 10%
2. Texture 20%
3. Crumb 20%
(a) Moisture (15%)
(b) Color (5%)
III. Flavor 30%
————
100%
NOTE.——These two score cards are the average of the work of sixty students
in judging bread in experimental cookery, Department of Foods and Cookery,
Teachers College, Columbia University. See also Bulletin 25, University of
Illinois.
=Digestibility and nutritive value.=——Bread of the standard described is
readily digestible when at least twelve hours old and stands high in
nutritive value. Figure 51 compares the composition of several varieties.
[Illustration: FIG. 51.——Composition of bread.]
Like the cereals, it has considerable protein, and some fat, but is
highest in starch. The white bread, unless made with milk, has very little
ash. A slice almost one inch thick weighing 1.38 ounces, from a baker’s
five-cent loaf, will yield 100 Calories.
=The cost of bread.=——The table in Chapter XVII states the amount of
protein and energy obtained for ten cents from bread as compared with
other common foods, and makes the fact clear that bread is essentially one
of the cheapest foods, remaining relatively so whatever the general
fluctuations in food prices may be.
A pound loaf of bread at the bakery should cost five cents, the cost being
slightly less when the bread is made at home, even taking the fuel into
account. It is an open question, however, whether bread should be made at
home or bought at the bakery, all the circumstances being weighed in the
balance by the individual. (See Chapter XVII.) In America, we need to
learn to dictate and control the methods in the public bakeries because
bakers’ bread is being used more and more, although it is said that 50 per
cent is still made at home. If bread is to be bought, it is necessary for
the housekeeper to understand the bread-making process and the standard of
good bread that she may criticize intelligently, and force the public
bakeries to furnish bread made under ideal conditions. Such bread is
supplied in France, where the housekeepers in the city, though noted for
their thrift, do not think of bread making at home as a practical or
economical procedure. It must be understood that the baker’s oven is
fitted to do better work than the small oven of the average kitchen, and
if the public through laws and inspection will control the quality of the
materials used and the cleanliness of the process, baker’s bread will be a
useful “ready-cooked” food.
=The ingredients of bread.=——The essential ingredients are flour, water,
and yeast. The liquid may be milk, or milk and water, the milk changing
the flavor slightly and increasing the nutritive value, while the cream in
the milk increases the tenderness of the crumb and crust. The
non-essentials include salt to develop flavor, sugar sometimes added to
hasten fermentation and also for flavor, and a fat to increase tenderness,
as, for instance, butter or some cheaper fat. Spices and dried fruits are
used in sweet breads, and when eggs are added sweet bread becomes a plain
cake having a delicious and characteristic flavor.
=The characteristics of good flour=.——The average composition of flour is
as follows:
Protein 11.4 per cent
Fat 1.0 ”
Carbohydrate 75.1 ”
Fuel value 1610 Cal. per pound
100-Calorie portion 28 grams (1 ounce)
The protein occurs in the form of gluten, which has the property of
stretching and expanding, and which makes the framework of the loaf of
bread, since it retains the air and carbon dioxide, and hardens when
baked. The protein of oats and corn lacks this property, and therefore
oatmeal and corn meal give a very different type of bread. Rye flour
contains gluten, and the rye loaf therefore resembles the wheat loaf.
Wheat and flour differ largely on account of the difference in the amount
of gluten, and the gluten itself varies in quality with the variety of
wheat.
[Illustration: FIG. 52.——Experiment illustrating the effect of the kind of
wheat upon the size of the loaf. _Courtesy of Utah Agricultural College._]
Figure 52 shows the result of an experiment with flour made from different
kinds of wheat, all the other factors in the bread making being identical.
This effect of the difference in the composition of the flour is very
striking. Again, the same variety of wheat will differ from season to
season, and the time of planting, also, affects the quality of the grain.
The time of planting and reaping gives us two classes of wheat and flour,
the winter and spring. Winter wheat is sown in the fall and obtains its
first growth before winter, living through the winter in those latitudes
where the climate is sufficiently mild, being harvested in early summer.
Spring wheat is sown in the spring and harvested late and it is the wheat
of the great flour-producing state, Minnesota. The difference in the
composition of the two wheats is shown in this table.[13]
===============================================================
| WATER | PROTEIN | FAT |CARBOHYDRATE| ASH |
--------------------|-------|---------|-----|------------|-----|
Wheat | | | | | |
Spring varieties | 10.4 | 12.5 | 2.2 | 73. | 1.9 |
Winter varieties | 10.5 | 11.8 | 2.1 | 73.8 | 1.8 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
Note that the spring wheat contains more protein and therefore more
gluten. The flour from spring wheat is creamy in color, granular to the
touch, has more gluten, and is known as a _strong_ flour. Flour from
winter wheat is somewhat whiter in color and smoother to the touch,
feeling more like cornstarch, and if a portion is squeezed in the hand, it
retains the imprint of the fingers. It has less gluten, more starch, and
is known as a _soft_ flour. This type of flour is sometimes called “pastry
flour,” the smaller percentage of gluten making it more desirable for
pastry or cake than the stronger flour.
Flour manufacturers and bakers are constantly experimenting to find the
best possible varieties and combinations of varieties for bread flour.
Some difference of opinion exists, but a combination of winter and spring
wheat in flour is considered the best for bread by some authorities.
We must learn to like a creamy color in bread, for this means the presence
of more gluten. To summarize: a good bread flour contains a large
percentage of gluten, is creamy in color, and granular to the touch.
=Manufacture of flour.=——Modern machinery has taken the place of the
old-time stones in the grinding of flour, although the two main divisions
of the process remain the same, these being the crushing of the grain and
the sifting out of the coarse portion. Milling now includes many stages in
the process not possible with the cruder machinery of former times, and
the present effects a greater number of separations and permits the miller
to make a greater variety of products.
[Illustration: FIG. 53.——A dissected grain of wheat. _Courtesy of Washburn
Crosby Co._]
Figure 53 shows a dissected kernel of wheat, with its five layers of bran.
Within these at _B_ is a shell of glutinous matter, yellowish and of
flinty hardness, and within this, but not sharply divided from it, lie the
starch granules in a network of woody fiber, the germ lying at _A_. The
milling process must remove the bran coats and the germ, and crush and
roll the remaining portions to the necessary fineness. The germ if allowed
to remain affects the color and keeping properties. The breaking and
rolling are accomplished by steel machinery, and the final sifting is done
through silk bolting cloth. By the new machinery about 70 per cent of the
wheat is saved for food, 30 per cent being bran, “shorts,” and other
by-products used chiefly for cattle feeding.
Figure 54 shows the vertical section of a mill, simplified in the drawing
that all the steps of the process may be clear. The diagram does not, of
course, show the actual arrangement of the mill.[14]
[Illustration: FIG. 54.——Simplified diagram of a flour mill. _Courtesy of
the Washburn Crosby Co._]
The typical parts in a modern flour mill are as follows: (1) Scales, for
weighing wheat as it is received. (2) Receiving separator, for separating
other kinds of seeds from wheat. (3) Storage bins, for reserve supply of
wheat in advance of mill requirements. (4) Mill separator, for further
separating foreign seeds from wheat. (5) Scourer, for removing dust from
wheat kernels. (6) Cockle cylinder, for removing all round seeds. (7)
Wheat washer, for thoroughly cleansing the wheat. (8) Wheat dryer, for
drying wheat after washing. (9) 1st break rolls, for rupturing bran,
enabling bran and germ to be separated from interior. (10) 1st break
scalper, for sifting middlings through bolting cloth to separate from
bran. (11) 2d break rolls, for further loosening the middlings from bran.
(12) 2d break scalper, for separating more middlings from bran. (13) 3d
break rolls, for further loosening middlings from bran. (14) 3d break
scalper, for final separation of middlings from bran. (15) Bran duster,
for dusting low grade flour from bran. (16) Bran bin, for packing bran for
shipment. (17) Grading reel, for separating middlings by sifting through
various sizes of bolting cloth. (18) Dust collector and purifier, for
cleaning and purifying middlings by air and sifting. (19) Smooth rolls,
for grinding purified middlings very fine to flour. (20) Flour bolter, for
sifting flour from purified middlings. (21) 2d reduction rolls, for
further grinding of purified middlings. (22) Flour bolter, for separating
flour from purified middlings of second grading. (23) Flour bin and
packer, for packing flour for shipment. (24) Elevator, for raising
products to the various machines.
=Other forms of flour.=——There has been much discussion of entire wheat
flour _versus_ white flour, and the practical conclusions are as follows:
the bread from whole wheat flour compares favorably with that from white
flour (see Fig. 51), but this material is slightly less available for
digestion than the material of the white flour. The mineral content is
higher, and when the income is so limited that this cannot be furnished in
milk, green vegetables, and fruit, whole wheat bread should be used. It
makes a pleasing variety, too, for any table.
_Graham flour_ is a coarse flour, containing the outer bran. It is useful
for its effect upon the intestines in case of constipation, but has to be
avoided by some people on account of its irritating effect. White flour
may have coarser material mixed with it, for variety in bread making, such
as rye or Indian meal, or graham flour.
=Yeast in bread.=——Yeast is put into bread dough in order to produce
carbon dioxide gas to lighten the whole mass. It is studied in the chapter
on preservation of fruit, but in bread making we need to foster its growth
instead of destroying it as, you will recall, we found necessary in
preserving. You can easily reason out for yourself just how this should be
done, especially after performing the experiments with yeast.
If yeast is in good condition, it has little effect on the flavor of
bread, even if used in a rather large quantity to hasten the process.
The best forms of yeast now in use are the compressed and dried cakes, the
former needing to be fresh, the latter keeping the vitality of the yeast
cells for a long time. Liquid yeast may be made at home, but it is
somewhat uncertain unless made with great exactness, and less easy to
manage on the whole than the other forms.
=Proportions of the ingredients.=——One part of water to three of flour, or
one cup to three of flour for a loaf, is an average proportion. The
practiced bread maker will vary this slightly to suit the variations in
the flour from time to time, but it is a safe rule for the beginner to
follow. Spring wheat flour requires somewhat more water than the winter
wheat, or the blend of the two. _Salt_ should be used sparingly, for
although it improves the flavor of the loaf, salt is a preservative which
retards or prevents the growth of lower organisms, and in the case of
bread it acts therefore as a check to fermentation. One teaspoonful to a
loaf is the largest amount that it is best to use.
The quantity of _yeast_ depends upon several conditions. The larger the
amount of yeast used, the shorter is the time of rising, and as many as
two compressed yeast cakes may be used to one loaf if it is necessary to
hasten the process, without any perceptible effect on the color, texture
or flavor. If a very large amount of yeast is used, the bread is
“crumbly,” and a difference in flavor will be noticed. A smaller amount
may be used if time is allowed for the rising, even 1/8 cake of compressed
yeast to a loaf, if the bread is to rise over night in warm weather. It
must be remembered that, if the rising process is too prolonged, other
organisms have a chance to work, and the bread may sour.
A small amount of _sugar_ hastens fermentation, and from one to two
teaspoonfuls to a loaf may be used. Many people prefer the flavor of bread
with no sugar, however. Some bakers use malt extract both as a yeast food
to hasten fermentation and for its effect upon the flavor.
_Fat_, or _shortening_, should be sparingly used, not more than one or two
teaspoonfuls being allowed to a loaf. If you study a number of bread
recipes, you will see that this ingredient varies more than the others. As
a matter of fact, if the flour is of good quality and the bread well made,
this ingredient is not necessary (in loaf bread at least), although it
seems to improve the quality of biscuit and rolls.
=Methods of mixing and the rising of bread.=——Dissolve the yeast in a
portion of the liquid, stir this mixture into the remaining liquid, add
half the flour, and beat the mixture thoroughly at this stage. Add the
sugar if any is to be used. When this soft mixture, called the “sponge,”
becomes full of bubbles, add the salt, the shortening if used, and the
remaining flour. Knead the dough by the hand, or by the machine, for about
ten minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic. Put it into a greased
bowl, cover the bowl, and allow the dough to remain until it doubles its
bulk. Some bread makers knead in all the flour at the first, and obtain a
good result. The first rising is more rapid, however, and experience seems
to prove that the results are better on the whole with the sponge. Cut the
dough down, knead again, using as little flour as possible. Shape into
loaves, place the loaves in greased pans, cover, and leave again until the
loaves double their bulk, when they are ready for baking. If left too
long, the bubbles of gas become too large.
_Temperature_ and _time_ are important, in this matter of mixing and
rising. The process may be shortened to five or six hours, including the
baking, or lengthened to twenty-four by the choice of the amount of yeast
and the temperature. The shorter process is the better, on the whole.
After reading over the sections of the chapter on preservation of fruit,
performing the yeast experiments, and discussing the results, you will be
able to answer these questions:
1. What should be the temperature of the ingredients when the bread is
mixed?
2. If milk is used, how may the souring of the milk be prevented?
3. What temperature will you secure for the bread while it is rising?
4. If an emergency occurs, and the dough cannot be kneaded or baked at the
moment it is ready, what can be done? Can you think of two expedients?
=A few suggestions.=——The kneading stretches the gluten and long kneading
gives a fine grain. In such a recipe as that for the making of Parker
House rolls, a very delicate quality results from a protracted process;
one old-fashioned housekeeper recommends a half hour’s kneading three
times. Fortunately a sufficiently good bread or roll may be made by ten or
fifteen minutes’ kneading at a time.
Bread dough may be cut or stirred with a large knife in place of the
kneading, and this is a good method to teach to those who live in crowded
space and find it difficult to have a perfectly clean kitchen and proper
utensils. With this method the dough must be softer, and it remains in the
bowl until it is turned into the baking pan. The resulting loaf is
somewhat moist, and not fine-grained, but the flavor is good.
Brushing the surface of the dough in the bowl or pan with water or milk
will prevent the formation of a dry crust on the top.
=Baking the bread.=——The temperature of the oven should be steady, and
about 380° F. An authority recommends 180° C. (355° F.) when the loaf is
put in, rising to 220° C. (425° F.).[15] The amount of flour for one loaf
has been given. A loaf this size should be baked in a pan 8-1/2 to 9
inches × 3-1/2 to 4 × 3 to 3-1/2. The material of the pan is not of great
consequence. Tin gives good results, a longer time being required for
baking in a granite pan. A loaf should bake about one hour. (See Fig. 55.)
[Illustration: FIG. 55.——A few loaves of bread. _Courtesy of the Dept. of
Foods and Cookery, Teachers College._]
_Rolls and biscuit_ may be shaped in many ways. (See Fig. 56.) How will
the baking differ from that of the loaf?
[Illustration: FIG. 56.——Rolls of different shapes. _Courtesy of the Dept.
of Foods and Cookery, Teachers College._]
=Care of bread after baking.=——Remove from the pans, cool on a rack, place
in tin box or stone jar, and cover with paraffin paper.
_Uses of stale bread._——Bread that has become too dry may be freshened by
moistening the surface and heating in the oven. Bread may be used for
toast, croutons for soup, escalloped dishes, puddings, crumbs for coating
other food materials, and may be made into cups for holding other
materials.
EXPERIMENTS AND RECIPES
_A. Experiment with gluten._
_Materials._——1 cup of flour, a 10-inch square of cheesecloth, a piece of
string, a pan or tin or granite plate.
_Method._——Tie the flour in the cheesecloth, and wash it, preferably under
the faucet, until the starch is washed out. Remove the gluten, stretch and
knead into a ball. Place the ball on a pan in the oven. Note results. Note
temperature of oven, if possible.
_B. Experiments with yeast._
1. _Materials_, (_a_) 1 cake of yeast dissolved in 1/3 of a cupful of
lukewarm water with water added to make 1/2 cupful, (_b_) 1/4 cup water
and 1/4 cup flour stirred together + 1 tablespoonful of molasses. Divide
this mixture into three parts.
_Method._——Add 2 tablespoonfuls of (_a_) to each of two thirds of (_b_).
Put remaining portion of (_a_) into a saucepan and bring it to the boiling
point and then add it to the third part of (_b_). Number these bowls 1, 2,
3.
(1) Surround bowl No. 1 with lukewarm water and keep the water at this
temperature by adding warmer water from time to time. Note result.
(2) Surround bowl No. 2 with cracked ice and salt. Note result.
(3) Surround bowl No. 3 with lukewarm water as in No. 1. Note result.
(4) Before the end of the hour remove bowl No. 2 from the ice water and
surround it with water at 100° F. and watch results.
State conclusions as to effect of temperature upon the growth of the yeast
cell.
2. _Materials._——1 yeast cake dissolved in 1/2 cup of water 80° F. + 1
tablespoonful molasses. Limewater. 4 small wide-mouthed bottles, or test
tubes, 4 saucers or beakers.
_Method._——Fill the small bottle, cover with a saucer and invert; or the
same with the test tubes. Keep the bottles at a temperature of 80° F.
until they are emptied. Test for carbon dioxide with a match, and with
limewater.
=1. Plain bread.=——You should be able to make your own recipe for
plain bread from the foregoing pages. Write this out in detail.
=2. Milk bread.=
_Proportions._
Milk 2 cups
Butter 2 tablespoonfuls
Sugar 1 tablespoonful
Salt 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls
Yeast 1 cake dissolved in 1/4 cup lukewarm water
Sifted flour 6 cups
_Special method._——Scald milk and add to this the butter, sugar,
and salt. Cool this until it is just lukewarm. Add the dissolved
yeast and stir in the flour beating thoroughly. Proceed as in
general directions.
=3. Entire wheat bread.=
_Proportions._
Scalded milk 2 cups
Sugar 1/4 cup
_or_
Molasses 1/3 cup
Salt 1 teaspoonful
Yeast 1 cake dissolved in 1/4 cup lukewarm water
Entire wheat flour 4-2/3 cups
_Special method._——Add sweetening and salt to scalded milk and
cool until lukewarm. Add dissolved yeast and beat in the flour.
Cover with cloth and let rise to double its bulk. Again beat and
turn into greased bread pans, filling half full. Let this rise to
not quite double its bulk, and bake same as white bread. This
mixture may also be baked in gem pans.
=4. Parker House rolls.=
_Proportions._
Scalded milk 2 cups
Butter 3 tablespoonfuls
Sugar 2 tablespoonfuls
Salt 1 teaspoonful
Yeast 1 cake dissolved in 1/4 cup
lukewarm water
Flour
_Special method._——Add butter, sugar, and salt to milk. When
lukewarm, add dissolved yeast cake and three cups of flour. Beat
thoroughly, cover and let rise until light. Cut down and add
enough flour to knead (it will take about 2-1/2 cups). Let rise
again, toss on floured board and knead, pat and roll out to 1/3
inch thickness. Shape with a biscuit cutter first dipped in
flour. Dip the handle of a case knife in flour and make a crease
through the middle of each round. Brush over 1/2 of each piece
with melted butter, fold over, and press edges together. Place in
greased pan, one inch apart, cover, let rise, and bake in hot
oven twelve to fifteen minutes. As the rolls rise they will part
slightly, and if hastened in rising are apt to lose their shape.
=5. Buns.=
_Proportions._
Scalded milk 1 cup
Butter 1/3 cup
Sugar 1/3 cup
Salt 1/2 teaspoonful
Raisins cut in quarters 1 cup
Yeast 1 cake dissolved in 1/4 cup
lukewarm water
Ext. lemon 1 teaspoonful
_Special method._——Add 1/2 sugar and salt to milk. When lukewarm,
add dissolved yeast and 1-1/2 cups flour. Cover and let rise
until light. Add butter, remaining sugar, raisins, lemon, and
flour enough to make a stiff batter. Let rise, shape like
biscuits, let rise again and bake. If wanted glazed, brush over
with beaten egg before baking.
=6. German coffee bread.=
_Proportions._
Scalded milk 1 cup
Butter 1/3 cup
Sugar 1/4 cup
Salt 1/2 teaspoonful
Egg 1
Yeast 1 cake dissolved in 1/4 cup
lukewarm milk
Raisins stoned and
cut in pieces 1/2 cup
Flour
_Special method._——Add butter, sugar, and salt to milk. When
lukewarm add dissolved yeast cake, egg well beaten, flour to make
a stiff batter, and raisins. Cover and let rise. When light
spread in buttered pan one half inch thick. Cover and let rise
again. Before baking brush over with well beaten egg and cover
with following mixture. Melt 3 tablespoonfuls butter, add 1/3 cup
sugar and 1 teaspoonful cinnamon. When sugar is partially melted,
add 3 tablespoonfuls flour and remove from fire.
_Laboratory management._——For individual work or for work in groups of
two, the use of 1/2 cup of liquid will be found to make as small an amount
of dough as it is desirable to handle. In making the white bread two
portions may be baked in one tin, brushing with butter where the two
portions touch each other, so that the loaves will separate when baked.
Where it is necessary to hurry the process not less than 1/2 yeast cake
should be used with this quantity.
It is impossible in an ordinary school period to complete the entire
process. A number of solutions will occur to the teacher. One of these is
to arrange the lessons as follows:
_Lesson I._
Yeast experiments, summary, bread mixed in groups and set to rise,
demonstration by teacher of kneading, using dough previously prepared.
_Lesson II._
Quantity of dough set to rise by volunteer pupils before class. Dough
kneaded, shaped and set to rise by pupils. Review of yeast experiments.
Baking of bread.
_Lesson III._
Parker House rolls or sweet breads mixed and set to rise, completed by
volunteers after class.
In recipes where three risings are called for one may be omitted, if
necessary.
=7. Toast.=——Directions for making toast will be found in Chapter
IV.
_To serve toast._——Toast should be served as soon as it is made,
if possible, and if not must be kept hot. Fold it in a napkin.
Toast may also be buttered, piled neatly on a plate, and kept hot
in the oven until it is time for serving.
For milk toast the bread is cut somewhat thicker than for buttered
toast. The milk is prepared by thickening, No. 1 under White
Sauce. Dip each slice of toast in the thickened milk and then put
the slices in a dish for serving and pour the thickened milk over.
To moisten toast that is too dry, or when moist toast is wanted to
serve under some other food, place it in a steamer or colander
over boiling water a few minutes before buttering it. This is much
better than toast moistened with boiling water.
=8. The sandwich.=——The sandwich is a convenient way of serving bread
and other foods away from the table, for picnics, teas, and
receptions.
_To prepare the bread._——Either white or brown bread may be used.
Select a well-shaped loaf of fine grain that will not crumb when
it is sliced. Cut off the end of the loaf, spread the loaf evenly
with butter, cut a thin slice, butter again, and so on. The
butter should be softened. Be careful to spread it evenly and see
that it is near the edge of the bread. Sandwiches may be made
either with or without the crust. If the crust is to be removed,
cut it off the loaf before buttering and slicing.
_The filling._——There is an endless variety of filling possible
for sandwiches, from slices of meat and poultry, which make a
substantial luncheon for picnics, to the dainty fillings used for
afternoon teas and receptions. A crisp bit of lettuce leaf with
Mayonnaise dressing is always acceptable. Cream cheese mixed with
nuts and raisins is a good filling. For a sweet sandwich, jam or
jelly may be spread on the slices and possibly a small amount of
cream cheese put between. You can invent many combinations.
_The shape of the sandwich_ may be oblong, triangular, or round.
The round sandwich is cut with a sharp cooky cutter. The pieces
remaining may be dried and used for bread crumbs. The crusts may
always be utilized in this way.
=9. Croutons.=——Cut a slice of bread a day old 1/2 inch thick. Spread
with soft butter, cut off the crust, put the slices in a pan, cut in
cubes and set the pan in the oven until the croutons are brown.
EXERCISES
1. What is a standard for good bread?
2. Describe a perfect loaf.
3. How do climate and method of raising affect the composition of wheat
and flour?
4. What are the essentials of good bread flour?
5. Why is it so necessary to control temperature in bread making?
6. What is the best temperature and why?
7. Explain the part played by gluten in bread making.
8. State the underlying principles of bread making.
9. Explain the advantage of a bread machine over the hand in kneading.
10. What is the best temperature for baking a loaf? For baking biscuit?
11. What are the principles and practical points in toast-making? (See
Chapter IV.)
12. What is the argument in connection with homemade bread _versus_
baker’s bread?
13. How can the public insure good quality baker’s bread?
14. What is the nutritive value and digestibility of bread?
15. How much bread in the 100-Calorie portion?
CHAPTER XIII
MEATS AND POULTRY
The meats that we commonly use are derived from the flesh of domestic and
wild animals of herbivorous habits and from fowls. The flesh of
carnivorous animals is seldom used as food. The various kinds are obtained
as follows:
_Meat_ _Animal_
Beef Ox
Veal Calf
Mutton Sheep
Lamb Young sheep
Pork Pig
Ham and bacon Pig
Venison Deer
Under the head of poultry we include the common fowl, turkeys, ducks and
geese, the guinea hen, and game birds.
[Illustration: FIG. 57.——Fiber cells of plain muscular tissue. _Kimber’s
Anatomy for Nurses._]
=Quality of good meat.=——The quality of meat is dependent on the condition
of the animal from which it is derived. The creature should be in perfect
health and well fed. Good beef is largely obtained from the cattle ranges
of the West, but there is no reason why cattle should not be raised to
greater extent in the East. Sheep for mutton are best raised where the
climate is not too severe. Methods of slaughter, transportation, and
preservation all affect the quality of beef. The pure food laws and
Federal meat inspection law are valuable to the consumer in their control
of the quality of the meat, that it shall be free from disease and from
adulterations. See Chapter XVII for the discussion of preservatives and
pure food laws.
[Illustration: FIG. 58.——Cuts of Beef.
KEY:
_A._ Ribs
_B._ Hip bone
_C._ Loin
_D._ Porterhouse
_E._ Prime ribs
_F._ Shoulder
_G._ Neck
_H._ Head
_I._ Brisket
_J._ Shin
_L._ Navel
_M._ Plate
_N._ Flank
_O._ Leg
_P._ Horseshoe
_Q._ Round
_R._ Oxtail
_S._ Rump
_Z._ Sirloin
_Courtesy of Bureau of Publications, Teachers College._]
In meat as it is purchased we have bone, fat, and the flesh, consisting of
the muscle of the animal with its connective tissue. The color of the meat
should be clear and fairly bright, not purplish or dull. There should be
little or no odor, and the meat should be firm and elastic to the touch.
_Beef_ should be a bright red and well streaked with fat.
_Veal_ should be pink and is somewhat less firm than beef. If watery and
flabby, it is too young.
_Mutton_ is a duller red, and firm. The fat is white or slightly yellow
and hard.
_Lamb_ is pink, rather than red, and slightly less firm.
_Pork_ is rather pale, somewhat less firm than beef and mutton, and the
fat is softer.
[Illustration: FIG. 59.——The hind quarter of beef hanging.
_Cuts_: _A_, Leg; _B_, Round; _C_, Rump; _D_, Top Sirloin; _E_, Loin; _F_,
Flank.
_Bones_: _g_, leg bone; _h_, socket bone; _j_, rump bone; _k_, hip bone;
_e_, back bone; _m_, part of rump bone; _n_, wing rib.
_Courtesy of Bureau of Publications, Teachers College_]
=Tough and tender meat.=——To understand the difference between the tough
and tender cuts we must be familiar with the structure of the muscle (see
Fig. 57). Each muscle consists of bundles of tubes held together by
connective tissue. In tough meat, the muscle tubes are thicker and there
is more connective tissue present. Exercise strengthens the muscle, and
this accounts for the fact that the unexercised muscles of the young
animal give us a softer meat. In the mature animal the muscles most
exercised furnish the tough meat, and the less used muscles the tender. If
you study Fig. 58, you can easily determine where the tough meat will
occur, if you think of the proportionate amount of exercise that the
different muscles receive. The tough cuts come from the neck and legs, the
tender cuts from the middle of the back, the toughness increasing as the
cuts approach the neck and the hind legs. The muscles of the abdomen are
also tender, but they give a coarse-grained meat. The various cuts of meat
are shown as they occur in the standing animal in Fig. 58, and in the hind
and fore quarters hanging, in Figs. 59 and 60. The individual cuts of beef
and mutton are shown in the figures that follow. The tender cuts from the
ribs and loin are the most highly prized, and therefore bring the highest
price. These cuts are liked because of their tenderness although the
nutritive value of the tough meat is as high or possibly even higher than
that of the tender. All meat is now high-priced, and you will find the
reasons for this discussed in Chapter XVII. For the sake of economy we are
forced to use the relatively cheaper cuts, and to seek for meat
substitutes. We must also take pains to use the cooking processes that
will make the tough meats palatable.
[Illustration: FIG. 60.——The fore quarter of beef, hanging.
KEY USES
1. 1st and 2d ribs }
2. 3d and 4th ribs } Prime Roasts
3. 5th and 6th ribs ”
4. 7th rib ”
5. 8th rib ”
6. 9th rib ”
7. Chuck steaks, or roasts, 10th to 13th ribs ”
8. Chuck pot roast ”
9. Neck Beef tea, etc.
10. Yoke ”
11. Navel Stew and corning
12. Plate ”
13. Brisket Corning
14. Cross Rib Pot Roast
15. Shoulder ”
16. Shin Soup
_Courtesy of the Bureau of Publications, Teachers College._]
=Composition and nutritive value.=——Figure 64 shows you the composition of
several common meats. Meat is valuable chiefly for its protein, fat, and
mineral salts. The juices of the meat in the muscle cells contain
nitrogenous extractive materials which give flavor, and are possibly
stimulating, but they have no food value. From the bone and also from the
connective tissue, gelatin is dissolved in cooking. Gelatin is a protein,
but differs in certain chemical properties from other proteins, and cannot
be used as the only source of nitrogen. It is a very useful protein,
however, and as it can be substituted in part for more expensive proteins,
it used to be called a “protein saver.”
In spite of the fact that meat is a common article of diet it should not
be used in excess. Other forms of protein, as those in eggs and milk, are
usually digested as easily, and most people can digest vegetable proteins
if the vegetables are carefully prepared. Very little children should not
have meat, for it has stimulating properties which are undesirable for
them, and it takes away the taste for foods more important for growth (see
Food for Growth, Chapter XVIII). When used largely in the diet, meat tends
to cause intestinal putrefaction and to form excess of acid in the body.
It is less likely to be harmful if taken with plenty of fruits and green
vegetables and liberal drinking of clear water.
[Illustration: FIG. 61A.——Left: Chuck rib roast, 9th and 10th ribs. Right:
Blade rib, 7th and 8th ribs.]
[Illustration: FIG. 61B.——Left: 1st cut prime rib roast. Right: 2d cut
prime rib roast. _Courtesy of Bureau of Publications, Teachers College._]
[Illustration: FIG. 62A.——Porterhouse steak; Delmonico steak. _Courtesy of
Bureau of Publications, Teachers College._]
[Illustration: FIG. 62B.——Flatbone sirloin steak; Hip steak.]
It should be realized that in none of the European countries is meat used
so liberally as in the United States, and that there are reasons to
believe that we might be better off if we could satisfy ourselves with a
meat consumption nearer the average of other civilized peoples——say half
as much meat per person per year as we are now accustomed to use. The fuel
value of meat depends largely upon the amount of fat which is eaten. If a
pound of steak contains 2 ounces of fat and 14 ounces of clear lean, the
rejection of the fat means a loss of fully one half of the fuel value. The
following table shows the difference between raw meat of the same cut,
free from bones and connective tissue, due to differences in amounts of
fat. Most people would prefer the strictly lean meat.
TABLE SHOWING 100-CALORIE PORTIONS OF RAW EDIBLE MEAT
===================================================
| LEAN | MEDIUM FAT |
MEAT |----------------|----------------|
| Weight, Ounces | Weight, Ounces|
-----------------|---------------------------------|
Beef, round | 2.3 | 1.7 |
Chicken (Fowl) | 3.2 | 1.6 |
Lamb, leg | 2.8 | 1.6 |
Mutton, leg | 1.9 | 1.5 |
Pork, loin chops | 1.4 | 1.0 |
Veal, leg | 2.9 | 2.2 |
---------------------------------------------------
[Illustration: FIG. 63A.——1: Rib lamb chops, French. 2: Rib lamb chops. 3:
Loin lamb chops. 4: Left: Blade shoulder chop. Right: Round bone shoulder
chop. 5: Chuck steak. 6: Skirt steak. 7: Flank steak.]
[Illustration: FIG. 63B.——Left.——Top and bottom round. Right.——Round bone
sirloin steak. _Courtesy of Bureau of Publications, Teachers College._]
For very complete and conveniently arranged tables giving the percentage
composition, the food values per pound and per ounce, the weight and
nutrients of the 100-Calorie portions of all the important meats and other
food materials as well, see Rose’s “Laboratory Handbook for Dietetics.”
=Dangers from meat.=——Three dangers from meat must be recognized; (1)
animal parasites, such as the trichina sometimes found in pork, (2)
poisons developed in the meat by bacteria when it is kept too long or
without sufficient refrigeration, this danger being recognized as ptomaine
poisoning, (3) bacteria, sometimes present in meat, which are directly
injurious to man and which are now held to be the cause of most of the
sickness commonly attributed to ptomaine poisoning. Government protection
must be given us here, but the housekeeper too has a responsibility. If
the raw meat has failed to receive proper inspection, we can protect
ourselves by cooking the meat to a degree that will kill any parasite
present. For this reason meat should not be served that looks raw or too
underdone. The cooked meat should be pink rather than red.
_Meat poisoning_ may be avoided in the first place by exercising great
care in regard to the odor of meat. Meat may hang to “ripen,” as the
butchers say, but one must learn to distinguish between the odor of
properly ripened meat, and that of even slightly tainted meat. Quite as
important is the _rapid cooling_ of meat, poultry, fish, and soups that
are not to be used at once. Cases of digestive disturbance and even actual
poisoning sometimes occur when underdone meat, especially lamb, veal, or
poultry, remains warm overnight.
[Illustration: FIG. 64.——Composition of meats.]
=The effect of heat upon meat.=——The _fat_ of meat is melted by heat. The
meat fiber shrinks and hardens with intense heat; on the other hand it
softens at a temperature somewhat below the boiling point of water. The
structure of the muscle must be studied further in order to make the
principles of cooking perfectly clear. If you think of the structure of
the muscle cell as somewhat resembling the structure of an orange, you can
picture quite clearly what happens under different conditions. Open a
section of orange and separate some of the single cells. These may
represent the muscle cells of meat that can be seen only under the
microscope. If you cut across one of these tiny cells, the contents will
escape, and this is what happens when the muscle cells are cut across.
Then, too, if the muscle is heated, the juices will pass through the
membrane of the cell, and this happens, too, if the meat is put into cold
water. The substances in the juices of the meat which are not coagulated
by heat are called the extractives, because they can be extracted by hot
water. The most valuable protein matter remains behind in the muscle cell,
however. Among these proteins are those known as meat albumin, and this
behaves in cooking very much as does the white of egg,——that is to say, it
coagulates.
Bearing these facts in mind, we can decide just what to do in order to
bring about the result that we desire in meat cookery, for sometimes we
wish to extract the juices and sometimes we wish to have all, or nearly
all, retained in the meat. We are now ready to state the principles of
meat cookery as follows:
1. _Juices retained._
In broiling, pan broiling, roasting, and boiling the high temperature
coagulates the meat albumin and hardens the fiber on the surface, thus
forming a coating which prevents the further escape of juices. In the
roasting and boiling of large pieces the temperature may then be lowered
to prevent the further shrinking and hardening of the fiber in the
interior of the meat, which comes from a protracted high temperature. With
a very thick steak after the surface searing the cooking may be completed
in the oven.
2. _Juices extracted._
In beef juice or beef tea, this may be done by placing the chopped beef in
a jar and placing the jar in an oven, or in hot water; or for beef tea and
ordinary soup by putting the chopped meat, or small pieces of meat, in
cold water and heating the water slowly.
3. _Juices partly retained and partly extracted._
This is desirable in stews, in braised beef, and in pot roast. State for
yourself just how this would be accomplished.
4. _Connective tissue softened_ at low temperature, and with water.
5. _Sterilization by continued_ heat which destroys parasites and
bacteria.
6. _Rapid cooling_, when serving is not immediate.
=Flavors suitable with meat.=
_Herbs._ All the pot herbs including savory, marjoram, thyme, sage, pot
marigold.
_Vegetables._ Onion, carrot, turnip, celery, celery root, parsley root and
leaf.
_Spices._ Clove, allspice, mustard, red, black, and white pepper. Some
nationalities use nutmeg.
_Acids._ Lemon, tomato, and other acid fruits.
EXPERIMENTS AND RECIPES
_Experiment A._
Chop finely a small piece of meat, squeeze out the juice with a lemon
squeezer and heat this juice in a saucepan. Observe the coagulation that
takes place.
_Experiment B._
(1) _Apparatus._——If possible, 2 glass beakers, 1 square wire net. If
these are not available, use an ordinary tumbler and a small saucepan.
(2) _Method._——_a._ Put a small piece of meat in a beaker with cold water,
and allow it to stand.
_b._ Bring water to the boiling point in the beaker on the net over the
gas flame. Throw in a small piece of meat.
Compare the appearance of the two pieces of meat and the water in the two
beakers.
=1. Broiled steak.=
(1) Wipe steak with a damp cloth. If a wood or coal stove is
used, have a bed of glowing coals ready. If gas is used, have the
gas broiler thoroughly heated. Grease the bars of the broiler.
Place steak in the broiler and sear meat first on one side, then
on the other. Continue to turn the broiler and cook the meat
until it is brown and done according to taste. Steak an inch
thick will take about ten minutes to be cooked to a medium
degree. Chops are broiled in the same way.
(2) Steak and chops may also be broiled in the pan. An iron frying
pan is the best utensil. Heat the pan, and brush it over with a
small piece of fat cut from the steak or the chops. The purpose of
this is merely to keep the meat from sticking to the pan. The
principle of procedure is the same as with (1). The steak or chops
must be frequently turned, using a knife and a fork, being careful
not to prick the meat with the fork. The length of time is
slightly longer than for (1). This method must not be confused
with the frying of steak in a pan with a large amount of fat. By
this method the steak is not fried, and it is often a convenient
substitute for (1).
=2. Roast of beef.=
Wipe roast with a damp cloth. Sprinkle with salt and dredge with
flour. Place in a roasting pan, fat side up if it is a standing
roast. Put the roast in a very hot oven and after fifteen minutes
reduce the heat. Baste roast two or three times with the fat that
tries out during cooking. The usual allowance of time for a
medium rare roast is fifteen minutes for every pound of meat.
_Roast beef gravy._——After the roast has been taken from the pan,
pour out all but 1-1/2 tablespoonfuls of the melted fat. Stir in 1
heaping tablespoonful of flour and brown very slightly. Add one
cup of cold water and stir constantly until thickened. Add 1/2
teaspoonful salt. Strain.
=3. Bouillon.=
Shin of beef 6 pounds
Cold water 3 quarts
Peppercorns 1/2 teaspoonful
Cloves 6
Bay leaf 1/2
Thyme 3 sprigs
Marjoram 1 sprig
Parsley 2 sprigs
Carrot}
Turnip} 1/2 cup each
Onion } cut in dice
Celery}
Salt 1 tablespoonful
Wipe beef and cut the lean meat in inch cubes. Brown one third of
the meat in fat cut from meat or marrow from a marrow bone. Put
remaining two thirds with bone and fat in soup kettle, add water
and let stand for thirty minutes. Place on back of range, add
browned meat, and heat gradually to the boiling point. Cover and
cook slowly six hours, keeping below the boiling point during
cooking. Add the vegetables and seasonings, cook one and one half
hours, strain and cool as quickly as possible. This is called
soup stock.
_To clarify bouillon._——When stock is cold, remove fat which has
hardened on top and put quantity to be cleared into a stew pan.
Allow white and shell of one egg to each quart of stock. Put over
fire and stir constantly until boiling point is reached. Boil two
minutes. Set back on stove and let simmer twenty minutes. Remove
scum and strain through double thickness of cheesecloth.
=4. General directions for meat soups.=
Soup making is an art that is well worth cultivating. The expert
soup maker will obtain delicious flavors by adding bits of many
kinds of left overs——almost anything that is found in the
refrigerator in the way of fruit, vegetables, and pieces of meat.
With the coming of the gas stove, many people have given up soup
making. These various left overs add much to the flavor of the
soup and can be used in a thickened soup which is like the
bouillon strained and thickened. The thickening may be flour,
arrowroot, cold cereal, sago, tapioca, or rice. Spaghetti,
vermicelli, and fancy forms of paste are sometimes served.
Vegetables may be cut into dice or fancy shapes and served in the
clear soup. A great variety is possible in flavoring and serving
soup if one will take the trouble to make it an art.
_Soup meat_ may be served in a soup of the old-fashioned kind,
thickened and containing vegetables. In such a soup some fat is
left, and the total result is a dish that makes a meal when served
with bread.
When the soup is a clear soup, the meat that is left may be used
for made over dishes; although some practical housekeepers think
that it costs almost as much to make it palatable as to buy fresh
meat. Try it in an escalloped dish with plenty of tomato, onion,
and some dried herbs for additional flavor.
=5. Beef stew with dumplings.=
Lean meat 3 pounds
Potatoes 4 cups, cut in 1/4 inch slices
Turnip} 2/3 cup each, cut in half inch
Carrot} cubes
Onion 1/2 small one, cut in thin
slices
Flour 1/4 cup
Salt
Pepper
Wipe meat, cut in 1-1/2 inch cubes, sprinkle with salt and
pepper, and dredge with flour. Cut some of the fat in small
pieces and try out in frying pan. Add meat and stir constantly,
that the surface may be quickly seared. When well browned, put in
kettle, and rinse frying pan with boiling water, that none of the
flavor may be lost. Cover with boiling water and boil five
minutes, then cook below the boiling point until meat is tender
(about 3 hours). Add vegetables except potatoes and seasoning the
last hour of cooking. Parboil potatoes five minutes and add to
stew 15 minutes before taking from fire. Thicken stew with 1/4
cup flour mixed with enough cold water to pour easily. Pour in
deep hot platter and surround with dumplings.
TEACHER’S NOTE.——Broiled steak would be suitable for group work, using
small steaks (Delmonico cut). A small roast may be prepared by a group and
roasted after class. This meat and that left from the steak should be used
in a subsequent class for a lesson on left over meat. Broiled or
pan-broiled chops may be prepared individually.
=6. Dumplings.=
Flour 2 cups
Baking powder 4 teaspoonfuls
Salt 1/2 teaspoonful
Butter 2 teaspoonfuls
Milk 7/8 cup
Mix and sift dry ingredients. Work in butter with a knife, add
milk gradually. Remove enough liquid from stew so that when
dumplings are dropped in they will rest on top of meat. Drop by
spoonfuls and let cook about twenty minutes.
The stew should be thickened before dumplings are dropped in.
=7. Uses of left over meat.=
(1) _Rissoles._——Run meat together with small piece of onion
through a chopper. Add salt, pepper, a little cold cereal, or
bread crumbs, and beaten egg, allowing one egg to about a pound
of meat. Shape into flat round cakes, roll in flour and sauté in
butter until well browned. These may be served with tomato sauce.
_Tomato Sauce._
Onion 1 teaspoonful chopped
Salt 1/4 teaspoonful
Pepper
Flour 2 tablespoonfuls
Butter 2 tablespoonfuls
Sugar 1 teaspoonful
Cloves 3
Tomatoes 2 cups
Brown the onion in butter and stir in the flour. When it has
bubbled up, add the tomatoes and seasonings. Stir constantly
until it thickens. Strain into a hot bowl.
TEACHER’S NOTE.——One sixth of these recipes would be as small
an amount as it would be practicable to use.
(2) _Croquettes._
Cold meat or chicken 2 cups
Salt 1/2 teaspoonful
Pepper 1/8 teaspoonful
Cayenne Few grains
Onion juice Few drops
White sauce 1 cup, thick, hot
Beaten egg
Dried bread crumbs
Mix ingredients in order given and let mixture cool. Shape into
croquettes, roll in crumbs, beaten egg and crumbs again, place in
a frying basket and fry in deep fat to a golden brown.
(3) _Escalloped meat_
Cold meat
Bread crumbs, soft 2 cups
Onion 1 slice, chopped fine
Salt 1/2 teaspoonful
Mixed poultry seasoning 1 tablespoonful
A little chopped celery is desirable
This is a simple method of serving left over meat that needs no
specific recipe. Layers of bread crumbs are alternated with layers
of meat which may be chopped or cut into small pieces. Liquid may
be used like tomato or tomato juice, or soup that is left over, or
plain water. The flavor may be varied by the use of the different
materials that are suitable to meat. Layers of mashed potato may
be used instead of bread.
POULTRY
In selecting poultry see that the flesh is firm, that there is a good
amount of fat underneath the skin, and that the skin is whole and a good
yellow. Notice the odor of the fowl particularly. The skin of cold-storage
poultry has not such a good color and is sometimes broken. Often the flesh
is shrunken, and if the cold storage has been too long continued the odor
is unpleasant. Refrigeration is allowable for a period. Another way to
judge cold-storage poultry is by the price. Well-fed poultry freshly
killed brings a high market price and a bargain quite often proves to be
poultry too long in cold storage. Good quality poultry is at present a
high-priced food.
To prepare poultry for cooking, the “dressing” of the chicken is often
done now at the market. If it is necessary to do this at home, make an
incision with a sharp knife just inside of one of the legs, in the groin.
Insert the hand and remove all the entrails. The skin must be loosened at
the neck and the crop removed. In any case, wash the chicken thoroughly
inside and out, even holding the cavity under running water. If there is
hair remaining on the chicken, singe this off over burning paper or over a
gas flame.
The composition is essentially the same as that of meat. The white of
chicken, fowls, and turkeys is thought to be more digestible than the dark
meat.
GENERAL METHODS AND RECIPES
=The principles of cookery= are the same as with the meat. Chicken soup is
made on the same principle as beef soup. After straining, it is delicious
with the addition of milk or cream. The meat of the chicken may be chopped
fine and used as a thickening. Rice may be added or a hard-boiled egg
chopped fine.
Chicken may be served cold, for luncheon or supper, and is always very
desirable in made-over dishes. Any stuffing left over may be used in the
made dishes.
=1.= =Roast chicken.=
Dress and clean a chicken. Fill the cavity with stuffing and sew
edges together. Truss chicken and place on its back in a roasting
pan. Rub surface with salt and spread breast and legs with
butter. Dredge with flour. Put a little water in bottom of pan.
Place in hot oven and when flour is well browned, reduce the
temperature. Baste frequently during roasting with liquid in pan.
When breast meat is tender and a brown crust formed the bird is
cooked. A four-pound chicken requires about 1-1/2 hours.
_Stuffing._ (See recipe for stuffing, page 237.)
Mix all together. No moisture need be added as the juices of the
chicken will be sufficient.
_Gravy._——Pour off liquid from pan in which chicken has been
roasted. Add 2 tablespoonfuls of either chicken fat or butter.
Stir in 2 tablespoonfuls of flour and let bubble up. Add one cup
stock, in which giblets, neck, and tips of wings have been cooked,
and stir steadily until thickened. Add 1/2 teaspoonful salt.
=2.= =Chicken fricassee.=
Clean and cut up a fowl. Cover with boiling water and let boil 5
minutes. Simmer until meat is tender. Remove chicken from kettle
and place pieces in hot, greased frying pan. Sauté until browned.
Put on platter. Melt 4 tablespoonfuls chicken fat in pan. Add 4
tablespoonfuls flour. Stir and let bubble up. Add 2 cups chicken
stock, stir and let boil until thickened. Pour over chicken on
platter.
_Laboratory management._——A lesson on poultry is a very expensive one and
difficult to manage so that each may have a share of the work. Such a
lesson is suitable where the pupils have had work in previous years and
are used to working in groups.
=Preserved meats and poultry.=——Smoked and salted meats are valuable
foods, although the nutritive content is somewhat less available for
digestion. The salted and smoked meats need long and slow cooking below
the boiling temperature of water.